The First Step
by BonesBird
Summary: A month after returning from the Delta Quadrant, some of the senior officers begin thinking about how to discover the changes in the home they left seven years earlier. Sequel to Tis Not Too Late. P/T. J/C friendship.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: The First Step  
****Summary: A month after returning from the Delta Quadrant, some of the senior officers begin thinking about how to discover the changes in the home they left seven years earlier.  
****Disclaimer: If there is a name you don't recognise, it's my creation. Everyone else belongs to ParamountCBS.**

**This fic is dedicated to all the lovely people who put up with my fickle muse. Jess, Jekkah, Alpha, Dax and Bren most particularly. **

**This isn't the full travel fic, that is likely to actually be posted in several oneshots of the major events. This is just how they got to where they go. It's 3 chapters long, I think. **

* * *

"_What people forget is a journey to nowhere starts with a single step, too."  
__Chuck Palahniuk_

* * *

It had only been a month. Though the building was still full of Voyager crew, most were moving on. Moving back with family or taking new assignments. Most of the senior staff hadn't though. He saw Kathryn almost every day, they were all technically on leave. He and B'Elanna had spent time visiting his parents, and her father. They had also visited Harry's parents, and they had all been invited to schools openings and events across the federation. Like most of the crew, he had declined. He wanted to focus on his family. B'Elanna and Miral.

They were both starting to learn their way around being parents. Though Miral was happy enough to tell them when they were doing things wrong. She was the only baby he'd ever met who didn't like being sung too, and preferred falling asleep to the sound of them talking normally. It made having visitors easier when it was bed or naptime.

Voyager was still a top story on the Federation News Service. B'Elanna was called into help the corps of Engineers at least once a week, even while on leave. They had both had plans when they got back. They wanted to have a real honeymoon, when Miral was a little older. They wanted to go and pay their respects at the war memorial in Staffordshire, and to the memorial the surviving members of the Maquis had set up at a base in the Badlands. They had a whole Quadrant to get to know again.

He was sat musing, feeding Miral and half-listening to another conversation between B'Elanna and the insufferable Lieutenant McCullock. He had heard enough of the mans voice recently, and B'Elanna was getting increasingly frustrated with him.

"Look, this is getting us nowhere. Lieutenant, I think you…"

"No, I am not coming to the ship." B'Elanna then ended the transmission and let off a stream of Klingon expletives, most of which made him thankful Miral couldn't speak yet.

"Was that not a pleasant experience B?"

"Is it ever?" B'Elanna asked as she slid onto the sofa beside him, looking more exhausted every time she got off with McCullock "the man is an idiot, and I'm too tired to cater to fools"

"I hope mommy isn't too tired to go out tonight?"

"Why are we" she started, then looked between him and Miral, then leant her head against the back of the sofa before turning her head to him "Our anniversary, of course."

"First wedding anniversary, it's a big deal apparently"

"Only because nobody ever thought we'd get married" She took Miral off him and started winding her, giving him a smile "Who is having Miral"

"There was much discussion about that, I think Doc and Kathryn are both coming,"

"Doc is the only singing Miral will allow without screaming the place down, think he can handle it?"

"I think he'll be glad to have a captive audience"

"A snoring audience" B'Elanna laughed before laying Miral back in her chair, "I have a million reports still to file according to McCullock, my debriefing was already the longest. How much do they expect from me?"

"Maybe we should talk to Kathryn and Chakotay about our trip?" he prodded, he wasn't going to deny that he was feeling a little at a loose end, with nothing to do but play with Miral and go for walks. He was already ready to do something.

"Stafford to the Badlands?" She prodded, leaning back against him as Miral squeaked one of her toys,

"Circumnavigate the Federation. Visit old places"

"Pitch in with the rebuilding works"

"See the Bajoran Wormhole open"

"You've been to Bajor before" She teased with a smile, he grinned back before settling against her, looking at the setting sun over the bay.

"So have you, but I've never seen the Wormhole open" he whispered, leaning in and kissed her "It's supposed to be romantic." he said against her ear, causing her to squirm just a little in the seat.

"We'll talk to her tonight" she almost sighed, giving him another reason to grin, and hope that this was the turning point.


	2. Chapter 2

**Title: The First Step  
****Summary: A month after returning from the Delta Quadrant, some of the senior officers begin thinking about how to discover the changes in the home they left seven years earlier. Sequel to Tis Not Too Late.  
****Disclaimer: If there is a name you don't recognise, it's my creation. Everyone else belongs to ParamountCBS.**

**This chapter is a lot of dialogue, which I **_**hate**_**. I don't like writing chapters that are mostly dialogue, but this serves the story. Next chapter is the last in this little bit, and I've already technically posted the next story, called "Stone Monuments"**

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_"Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step."  
Lao Tzu_

* * *

Miral was screaming the house down, and he knew that B'Elanna was minutes from losing her mind it seemed. She picked her up, and Miral settled a little bit. "This is not a good time. Tom, if it's anyone who I don't want to see, get rid of them, I'm going to see if I can get her to go to sleep"

He patted his daughter on the back as B'Elanna walked through the living room. He ran up to the door and hit the contact, surprised to see his former captain. "Well, what can we do for you?"

"Have either of you spoken to Chakotay recently?" Kathryn asked, settling on the sofa. Tom was always amazed at how easily she'd gone from being their commanding officer to being just their friend. She had arrived just when they had wanted to speak to her. He smiled and settled in the chair and looked at her, thinking about last time Chakotay had visited, a couple of weeks ago.

"Last I heard, he'd gone into seclusion in the Amazon"

"His grandfather is there, isn't he?" Kathryn asked as B'Elanna walked in the room, she looked exhausted, and he wanted to help her, give her a day off to sleep, but unfortunately it didn't work like that, and right now, Miral only wanted her mother.

"Keep it down, Miral's finally sleeping" she hissed before collapsing onto the sofa besides Kathryn, who reached out and took her hand before smiling.

"She likes being where the noise is?"

"She takes after Tom, she doesn't like being left out" B'Elanna's glare found him,

"Hey" he said defensively, but knowing she was just teasing him really.

"What?" she replied, all innocence, he was ready to shoot of another retort when Kathryn held her hand up, the part of them both that were still her officers lead to them both stopping,

"Settle you two, how are we going to get Chakotay if he's in seclusion" she asked, taking a sip of the coffee she had been nursing since she arrived.

"B knows where he's gone, maybe she could speak to him?" he smiled at the daggers being shot by his wife, he enjoyed keeping her on her toes, and he knew that she enjoyed it really, even if right now she looked too tired to be enjoying anything.

"Think you could do it B'Elanna?" Kathryn asked, B'Elanna shrugged, and he smiled as she looked more like her old self, with something to do. She stood up and he watched her pace a little. He could almost hear the cogs turning in her mind as he watched her, suddenly she turned and looked between the two of them.

"If he's on a spiritual retreat I probably won't be welcome" he reached out and pulled her to the chair, forcing her off her feet and he knew that would derail her thought process long enough for him to speak.

"You're the one he's most likely to respond too, you have known him the longest out of everyone" he almost whispered in her ear. She just patted his hands and he knew that they'd won, it seemed she was too tired to argue. He made a mental note to get her to go see the doc.

"OK, I'll go tomorrow" She sighed, and leant back against him as the conversation moved to who wanted to go where.

* * *

She didn't spend as much time in the communications centre as some of the crew. She didn't need to. Most of Voyager's crew were staying on the complex they had all moved into a month earlier, and the only people she might contact were Tom's family or her father, none of whom lived off planet, so she could just use the terminal in their apartment. With not being entirely sure where Chakotay was, she had decided to use the centre, she was wondering if this was a wild goose chase when his face came up on the screen. She just smiled at him before saying a welcome. "Hey, I didn't expect you to answer the comm"

"I expected you to call sooner. It was time to leave" he looked calm, the best she had seen him looking in a long time. She was glad of that, and she wondered how much of that had been part of being away from everything.

"Does that mean it's time for you to rejoin your friends for a new kind of exploration" She prodded, not wanting to leave Miral for too long. It didn't seem to matter in her mind that Miral was with Tom,

"Like?" he asked, and even though she knew that Kathryn had discussed their planned trip with him, she wasn't sure if he remembered it.

"Visiting the memorials in Stafford and the Badlands. Visiting Bajor, Deneva… Risa"

"The trip you planned?" He asked, and she inwardly winced, not sure if that was a compliment or an accusation. She plastered a smile on her face and gave him a light glare across the miles that separated them.

"Technically Kathryn planned it"

"Don't start on the technicalities" he tried to look stern, but instead he just ended up smiling lightly, the look on his face made her certain he needed to speak about something, but she wasn't going to bring anything up over the comm.

"You agreed in principle a month ago, has so much changed that you don't want to come any longer?"

"No, that's not it. It's just a big change"

"Maybe you need a change" she watched as his face broke into a smile, a real smile. One that reached his eyes and lit his face. She returned it, desperate to try and get him out of his exile and back with his friends, the people he had lived with and depended on for seven years.

"You're not going to let me off with this, are you?" he asked, and chuckled, clearly already knowing her answer.

"No." she confirmed, and went to end the call when his face stopped her moving,

"I'll be there tomorrow"

"Make it tonight, you can sleep on our sofa"

"B'Elanna…"

"What?"

"You look tired"

"I have a 5 week old, Chakotay, what do you expect" he held his hands up defensively in a sign of surrender. The old familiar trick had her smiling. "Sveta came to visit last week, she told me to send her love" she decided to end the conversation on a high note. Rather than focus on what they would be doing.

"I'll check in on her before we leave too. I'll see you tonight" She smiled and ended the call. Sitting back and letting out a deep breath before making her way back upstairs, where she found the apartment blissfully silent, with a note from Tom saying he took Miral for a walk so she could have a sleep. She felt a rush of love for her husband as she collapsed onto her bed.


End file.
